Sparks
by Tenshigami
Summary: One Alchemist's memories of the years past. Valentine's one-shot for a friend of mine, MustangXOC


Really. She'd always hated Valentine's Day. It was a stupid holiday, full of increasingly stupid people as the years went on. You couldn't go out to eat; not without being forced to watch other people sucking face and people were just a pain in the butt in general.

Rayne sighed and looked out the window of her small apartment at the rain. Drops flew by, splattering on the unfortunate heads of pedestrians without umbrellas. She giggled, somehow highly amused by their despairing glares at the sky, as if the sheer force of their will could somehow convince the heavens that no, tomorrow was the day it was supposed to rain, not today. She knew of one person in particular who was probably pretty upset at the rain.

Roy. Colonel Roy Mustang, her commanding officer, the Flame Alchemist… yeah, he probably wasn't too happy. In fact, she'd be willing to bet that he was off pouting somewhere with Lieutenant Hawkeye faithfully by his side. Or he was in a bar with some chick. This was much more likely, considering what day it was. Yeah, Valentine's Day sucks. Especially when the man you loved, whom was most definitely out of your league, was probably out being one of those annoying couples… though she kind of doubted Roy was the type to spout mushy nonsense at a girl. And Major Soren was definitely not the type of girl who generally enjoyed have nonsense spouted at her.

Rayne groaned and rolled her eyes, mentally chastising herself. It really did her no good to sit here and daydream about things that weren't ever going to happen, no matter how awesome it would have been if they did. No, it was no use daydreaming about those deep black eyes, that hair that she always wished to brush out of his face, that smirk that she wished to wipe away from his face with her own lips. She could remember the first time they'd met in perfect clarity, as if it were yesterday.

She was panting heavily, having just finished the practical portion of the State Alchemist exam. The then eighteen-year-old barely had the energy to walk off out of the building before sliding down a wall. Some would have considered it a collapse. _She_ would have insisted that she was simply testing the gravity of the examination building.

Rayne watched as several of the military police walked by, almost completely ignored in the chaos following her exam. Several rebels from the West had thought the State Alchemist examinations a good place to try to cause some chaos. Well, cause chaos they did. Rayne had found herself fighting to protect the lives of the civilian spectators, while the other alchemists there gave in and cowed in terror. Of course, she desired to do the same thing, but it wasn't going to happen. Not on her watch.

She'd been fighting hard, but had gotten backed into a corner by three rebels, one of whom had a gun. Rayne had desperately tried to transmute something to help her, and the result was a dark, smoke-like mist filling the air, obscuring everyone's vision… even her own. Yeah, didn't think that one through, she mentally chided herself as she nimbly danced away from her pursuers. A hand reached out, grabbing her by the arm before she had time to react, She attempted to twist away, only to find the arm with her alchemical tattoo twisted behind her back and the muzzle of a gun shoved under her chin.

It was cold, the metal. Very cold. Time seemed to slow around her as the few people that were fighting back realized that their attackers had a real hostage, a young girl. Noise stopped, and Rayne realized for the first time that she was the only female present.

"Stop. Stop now or she dies." Her captor said, loudly and clearly. He cocked the gun, the noise echoing in the silence. Damn chivalry. She'd thought it was dead. But no, now the men all decided that apparently the life of one girl was more important than their freedom. Great.

The gun was shoved painfully further into her skin as she was half-carried towards the other end of the room. For whatever reason, her smoke wasn't clearing, and she was beginning to get a headache from trying to see. Suddenly, something happened through the smoke. Heat filled the room, a gunshot rang out, and Rayne collapsed to the floor.

She'd come to twenty minutes later, groggy and in pain. She attempted to check for injuries, but a warm hand gently pushed her back down onto the cot she was laying on.

"Stop trying to move. It'll only make your injuries worse."

Wait, who was that? She blinked, trying to clear her vision. She was met by dark hair that smelled suspiciously of smoke. She felt that warm hand bandaging her shoulder, her jacket missing and the strap of her tank top pulled down so that her injury could be bandaged properly.

"The bullet grazed your shoulder. Hold still." The man said.

"Ugh…" Rayne groaned. She winced as pressure was applied to the wound, and sat up, despite the man's warnings. "Wait… that was you creating the fire back there! You… you're the one who saved me, aren't you?"

The man smirked, sitting back. "The name's Roy Mustang. _Colonel_ Roy Mustang."

"Oh. I'm Rayne, Rayne Soren."

He laughed, that smirk still on his face. "I know kid, I know. You did pretty well out there, for a kid."

"I'm eighteen, thank you very much." She said, attempting to cross her arms, and failing. Too painful, with a shoulder injury.

"Yeah, kid. Whatever you say." Someone yelled from across the room. "Gotta go. Don't do anything stupid soon. I may not be able to save you next time."

Rayne 'hmphed' at him as he rose.

"See you around, Mirage Alchemist."

She'd vowed that day that he'd never have to save her again. She would fight for herself, so that she wouldn't be indebted to that man with the sarcastic spark in his eyes, who'd saved her from certain death. And someone, somewhere, had decided that it would be freaking _hilarious_ if he was her commanding officer. Yeah, right.

"Major Rayne Soren, reporting for duty, sir!" She said, saluting him.

"Hey… I remember you. You're that girl from the Exam Incident, aren't you?" Mustang had barely glanced at her when she'd entered his office. He now put down the paper he'd been (not) reading and looked her in the eyes.

"Yes, sir."

"At ease, Major." He said. Rayne relaxed. "You seem to be in good health."

She smiled a bit. "Much better than I was before."

He nodded. "Good. Report back here if you have any questions. Lieutenant Hawkeye will show you around. Dismissed."

Rayne nodded and saluted one more time, before exiting his office.

Rayne swept her long brown hair over her shoulder and grabbed her coat before leaving her apartment. Dammit, she was miserable pouting here, and she'd be damned if she couldn't find something better to do elsewhere. She stepped onto the sidewalk, sloshing through a puddle that soaked her boots. The brunette headed towards the office to grab some paperwork she'd half-forgotten… or something. She'd thought she liked the rain, but it was just kind of making her miserable now.

Rayne stepped into the darkened building, fishing out a key to unlock the door to the area where she and the rest of Colonel Mustang's subordinates worked, but found the door already unlocked. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped inside, looking at the light on in the Colonel's office. She rapped lightly on the door before entering.

"Oh. Major Soren. What are you doing here so late?"

"I should ask the same of you, sir. Don't you have some charming younger woman waiting for you somewhere?" Rayne grinned. In the years she'd been under Mustang, she'd been granted the privilege to tease him every once in a while.

He just shrugged. "Didn't feel like it tonight. I didn't really feel like dealing with one of the girls tonight."

"There's more than one?"

"Shush. What are you here for anyways?"

Rayne smiled and held up the paperwork she'd picked up. "Left important stuff here… at least I think it's important."

"Ah." Rayne turned to leave. "Wait, Major?"

She turned back around. Roy was getting up from his desk, assembling his things and grabbing his coat. "I'll walk you home. It's too late for a pretty, young girl like you to be out alone. Something might happen."

Rayne smirked. "Something like you?"

"Maybe." She laughed as they exited the building, back into the pouring rain.

They walked in companionable silence for a while. "I know you hate the rain, sir. Thanks."

"I've told you not to call me sir when we're not at the office before, Major." Roy said, looking at her.

"I'll stop calling you sir when you stop calling me Major… sir."

"Fine, Soren."

"Alright then, Mustang." The two fake glared at each other, then grinned.

Rayne looked up into the rain, smiling, as they arrived at her apartment building.

"Well… I'll see you tomorrow, Major."

"Yeah. See you around, sir. Don't do anything stupid soon." She called after him, as he stepped away, back into the rain. Droplets flew off of his hair as he turned around.

"Isn't that what I said to you, years ago?"

Rayne looked shocked. "You remember?"

"How could I forget? It wasn't exactly a… quiet meeting."

Rayne laughed. "No, no it wasn't." He smiled at her. Oh no… oh no. Those romantic feeling-demon-things were coming back. She could feel herself about to do something she was going to regret later.

"You were just as beautiful then." Roy said, looking at her.

Rayne tore her eyes away from the pavement, not believing her eyes. He couldn't have just said that. She was imagining things. "Roy?" She said.

He took a step closer to her. Rayne swore she couldn't breathe as the two drew closer together.

"Tell me to stop and I will." Roy said, when their faces were inches from each other's.

"Hmph. In your dreams." Rayne said, and she kissed him. She was sure she felt sparks as their lips connected. Definitely sparks. Fireworks  
were overrated anyways. His lips were perfectly firm again her own as his hands drew her closer to him. Rayne broke away, hugging him  
close.

"Happy Valentine's, Major." Roy said, stepping away into the rain, leaving her yet again trying to process what had just happened.

"Mm… Maybe you're not so useless in the rain after all, Roy!" She called after him.

A/N: I'd love to hear what you think... reviews make the author give cookies!


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